Lil Durk lures LeBron James to join Bulls, promising him to cover half of his salary (imagn)

Lil Durk lures LeBron James to join Bulls, promising him to cover half of his salary (imagn)

Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James has been at a crossroads as he is stuck between picking up his $51 million player option on June 29 or declining it and becoming a free agent.

With this predicament, James has been receiving a lot of offers, especially from fans, who desperately want him to be part of their team in the foreseeable future. That includes rapper Lil Durk, who offered to pay a part of the NBA’s all-time leading scorer his salary, if he had to, just to join his favorite team Chicago Bulls.

“You and bronny come to Chicago bulls shid ill pay you if I got to,” the Chicago-based rapper Durk wrote as James remained mum about his future.

As much as Durk wants to pay for his salary, the rapper only boasts an $8 million net worth, according to Celebrity Net Worth, which is a fraction of what James may get from other teams.

The Bulls can only sign James if they clear up enough cap space by trading their core players Zach Lavine, Demar Derozan, and Nikola Vucevic. By then, the team, who recently traded former LeBron teammate Alex Caruso for the 21-year-old Josh Giddey, may not look as enticing to LeBron, who is entering his 20th season in the league at 39 years old.

Some teams rumored to have a run with James are the Philadelphia 76ers, Dallas Mavericks, and New York Knicks, whose teams, through some tweaks in their roster cap space, can provide a significant offer for James.

Bronny James, LeBron’s son, meanwhile can be the x-factor in James’ decision, as any team, such as the Bulls, can pick him in the draft and lure his father to play with their team come next season. Notably, Chicago owns the 11th pick in the NBA draft next week and could theoretically reach for Bronny in the lottery to attract LeBron in free agency.

Lakers committed to offering three-year, $162 million for LeBron James

The L.A. remains the top team to sign LeBron James, committing to paying him over $50 million per year through his 24th season in the NBA.

In a report by Dave McMenamin, the Lakers intend to offer James a three-year, $162 million contract, meaning that he will be paid $50 million as a 39-year-old, $54 million as a 40-year-old, and $58 million as a 41-year-old player in the league.

To date, no NBA player has received such an amount in their forties, making LeBron’s situation unique.

Even at 39 years old, James has been the Lakers’ leader and top scorer, averaging 25.7 points, 7.3 rebounds, and 8.3 assists per game while shooting a career-high 41.6 from the three-point line last season.

If he officially joins the Lakers next season, James will be coached by his former podcast partner JJ Redick, who was named the team’s new head coach after firing Darvin Ham.